


A Movie Night

by thealpacalypse



Series: George Squared Sleepover Fluff [2]
Category: Call Me Katie (Web Series)
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Kid Fic, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-18
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-04-21 10:40:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4826009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thealpacalypse/pseuds/thealpacalypse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gleeson and Bates are secret agents on a mission: To watch all three High School Musical movies in one go. And they will beat all the odds aka. Bates's stict mum with their ninja skills. Probably.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Movie Night

**Author's Note:**

> Finally it's here: Part 2 of the thrilling adventures of George Squared sleepovers. 
> 
> This time all my thanks goes to [the Amazing Jenna](http://ofcourseitsinsidemyhead.tumblr.com/) who is just the best beta ever and an all around wonderful person. 
> 
> The Georges are around 11 years old in this one.

Bates runs to the door the second the doorbell rings and yanks it open. “Georgie!” he shouts and hugs Gleeson, but not for long. He’s just too excited to stand still for even a second.

 

“Do you have all three DVDs now?” he asks over his shoulder, already on his way to the kitchen and expecting Gleeson to follow him. “Do you want some orange juice?” he also asks before Gleeson even gets the chance to reply to the first question.

 

Gleeson laughs and drops his backpack to the floor. “Yes and yes,” he replies, before sitting down at the kitchen table. “I bought the third movie on my way here with my mum.” He pulls a face and then adds: “I also brought healthy snacks, my dad packed them for us because he has this weird new fitness obsession.” He’s glad to see a look of horror on Bates’s face too when Bates hands him a glass of orange juice.

 

“Dude, no way!” Bates protests, “We’re not eating celery and carrots on High School Musical night!”

 

Gleeson lets out a relieved sigh. This is a Gleeson and Bates sleepover and those traditionally only come with one type of food. “So, pizza?” he asks cheerfully and grins at Bates.

 

“Uhh, yeah pizza, duh!” Bates grins back immediately. “My parents already ordered it for us, should be here in fifteen minutes. I had to beg and be nice all day and my mom made me do all kinds of chores for it, so you better appreciate it!”

 

Gleeson appreciates it so much. “My dad made nothing but vegetable stew all week, heck, you have no idea how much I need that pizza. You’re basically saving my life!”

 

***

 

By the time the pizza gets delivered, they’ve already set up everything else for their movie night: Every single pillow and stuffed animal they could find is on Bates’s bed, because that’s their ritual (and because when they watch movies with scary parts, Bates usually needs to be able to grab a pillow ASAP and bury his face in it, so it’s practical as well as awesome). They also have the TV and DVD player ready, the first High School Musical movie already in, and they have gummy worms and Bates even managed to sneak a bottle of coke into his room – which his parents would never allow, but Bates decides they need it to get through all three movies without falling asleep, so getting shouted at by his mom the next day will definitely be worth it.

 

They’ve already made themselves comfortable on the bed when the doorbell rings and Bates’s mom shouts: “George, your pizza is here!”

 

Bates jumps up immediately, exclaims, “You wait here, Gee, I’ll be right back!” and runs down the hallway to get their pizza. Gleeson can hear through the walls of Bates’s bedroom how Bates’s mom tries to lecture her son about not getting stains on the bedsheet and not staying up too late and all that stuff she always says when Gleeson stays overnight. A minute later Bates is finally back with the pizza and shrugs. “Sorry about that, mate. She still thinks we’re five or something.”

 

Gleeson smiles, “Nah, don’t worry, I know.” Bates’s mom can be intense, but as long as she lets them have their sleepovers and pizza, Gleeson doesn’t want to complain too much. “So, can we finally start?”

 

Gleeson doesn’t have to ask twice – Bates immediately crawls onto the bed, opens the pizza carton and hits “play”.

 

***

 

By now they know High School Musical by heart, the first movie at least, because they’ve seen that one about a million times. They have their favourite scenes from the second one as well, and by now they have fully developed performance versions of “Bet On It”, “I Don’t Dance”, “Gotta Go My Own Way” and “Everyday”. Of course they need to watch those scenes twice, once for singing and dancing along and once again so they can really watch it, and they end up watching “I Don’t Dance” a third time because they accidentally end up singing along at the second time and Bates just cannot sit still.

 

So it’s already pretty late when they’re finally at “Everyday”, but neither of them actually notices and they shout out the song passionately, Bates as Gabriella and Gleeson as Troy, while standing on Bates’s bed and pretending it’s their stage.

 

Gleeson almost falls off the bed though when the door of Bates’s room suddenly opens, and because he hugs Bates from behind like Troy does with Gabriella in the choreography, he almost yanks down Bates with him – they both need to grab each other to regain some stability and it takes them a few seconds before they’re finally able to look to the door and see that Bates’s mom is standing there, looking upset.

 

“Boys!” she exclaims. “Can you pause this for a moment, _please_?!” She points at the TV where the song is still blasting at full volume. Bates immediately lets go of Gleeson and jumps off the bed to look for the remote control that’s vanished between all the pillows and blankets and stuffed animals. It’s a really awkward moment, Gleeson standing on the bed and not being sure if he should sit down or stay there, Bates throwing all his plushies to the floor trying to find the remote, Bates’s mom with a sour expression on her face and Troy and Gabriella still singing “Everyday, from right now, gonna use our voices and scream out loud” from the top of their lungs.

 

Finally, Bates finds the control and pauses the movie and Gleeson climbs off the bed clumsily and stands next to Bates who looks like he expects the worst. Gleeson can’t really blame him, because Bates’s mom looks probably the most furious Gleeson has ever seen her.

 

There are a few moments of heavy silence before Bates’s mom finally says through gritted teeth: “Do you have any idea how late it already is?!” They both don’t have any idea honestly, but she doesn’t expect an answer anyway. “Honestly, George, I’m surprised and disappointed,” and Gleeson realizes that she’s talking to him and not her own son, “I thought you were a decent, nice kid. What would your parents say about this?”

 

Gleeson is shocked – never has an adult talked to him like that, and quite honestly, he doesn’t know what to reply. He suddenly hears Bates mumble: “They’d say nothing, because they’re cool.”

 

Gleeson guesses that those words were only meant for him, but Bates’s mom seems to have heard them as well and by now she’s basically fuming with rage. “Guard your tongue, young man!” That one is directed at Bates again, but Gleeson still feels agitated and wants to defend himself and Bates, although he’s not sure how.

 

Bates’s mom goes on now though: “This ends, right now. You go brush your teeth and then go to bed. I would call his parents to pick him up if it wasn’t so late.”

 

“But mom –“ Bates begins, but his mom immediately cuts him short.

 

“Oh no, not one more word, George. Or this is the last time of you two having a sleepover, I will promise you that.”

 

That makes Bates shut up for good, but he glares angrily at his mom until she decides she has nothing more to say.

 

***

 

There’s silence between Gleeson and Bates for a few moments, before Gleeson says “Sorry that I didn’t say anything–” at the same moment when Bates begins “I can’t believe she said that –“

 

They both stop talking again and Bates looks at Gleeson with so much frustration and anger in his eyes that Gleeson just wants to hug him. He’s not sure if that’s what Bates wants though, so instead he murmurs, “It’s okay, Gee, don’t worry. We can just go to bed and watch the third part another time…”

 

But Bates pants angrily: “No. My mom has been like that all week. But I won’t let her ruin this for us. I’ve been looking forward to this movie night for months, and we can’t just stop now.” He pauses and takes a deep breath. “I have a plan.”

 

***

 

Gleeson isn’t entirely happy about the plan. He never had a reason to do anything behind his parents’ backs, so he’s not used to anything like that. He also doesn’t want to get Bates into trouble, and he’s afraid that his mom might have meant it when she threatened to forbid sleepovers – that’s one thing that Gleeson doesn’t want to live without, because sleepovers with Bates are always the best.

 

Bates seems to have his mind set on this though, and he seems so excited about it that he just carries Gleeson along.

 

“Okay, step one is go,” Bates whispers and grins at Gleeson mischievously before he knocks on the living room door.

 

“Mom?” he asks carefully and Gleeson is immediately blown away by the fact how apologetic it sounds even though Gleeson is 100% sure that Bates doesn’t mean it. Dang, Bates should be an actor one day.

 

They walk into the living room where Bates’s mom and stepdad are sitting on the couch. Bates puts on his most sorry face and quietly says as if he rehearsed it: “Umm, I just wanted to apologize for that. We didn’t notice that it was already so late and we didn’t want to upset you on purpose or anything, but we’re still sorry, right, Georgie?”

 

Gleeson blushes. He’s sure he isn’t half as convincing as Bates when he replies, “Yeah, sorry, really. It won’t happen again.”

 

But it seems to work, because Bates’s mom puts down her book, stands up and walks over to them to hug Bates and ruffle Gleeson’s hair. “Thanks, boys,” she finally says. “I’m glad you said that. Good night, you two.”

 

***

 

Step two is getting ready for bed, brushing their teeth just like Bates’s mom told them to, turning off the lights in Bates’s room and pretending to be asleep. But instead of lying on the guest mattress where Gleeson usually sleeps, he’s cuddled up with Bates in the bed, between all the pillows and stuffed animals.

 

“Okay,” Bates whispers, “step three is waiting until Mom and Jason go to sleep. Should be in about half an hour. Then we can turn the TV back on and finish the second part and then watch the third part. We just have to be really quiet, like ninjas!”

 

Gleeson is a bit bewildered, he has to admit. “Do you do stuff like that often?” he asks.

 

“Stuff like what?”

 

“Secretly doing stuff behind your parents’ backs?” Gleeson explains and Bates giggles.

 

“Of course,” he replies, “all the time. Or do you really think that one time, when I came to your house at nine pm with ice cream when you had tonsillitis, my parents actually allowed that?!”

 

“Gee!” George is shocked, but also a bit flattered. “You shouldn’t get into that kind of trouble for me. It’s not worth it.”

 

It’s not completely dark in Bates’s room – it never is, because the blinds are never closed and there’s a street lamp not far from Bates’s window – so Gleeson can see the wide grin on Bates’s face. “Oh, it’s definitely worth it. We’re watching that movie tonight, and I don’t care if it’s the last thing we do.”

 

They high five, and even though they’re in a weird lying position, it’s probably one of the best high fives they ever managed. And just like that, Gleeson forgets to be nervous about all this and feels super awesome. Like he and Bates are secret spies on a mission.

 

***

 

“What about Viola?” Bates suddenly asks a few minutes later when it gets too quiet and they’re both getting too sleepy while waiting for Bates’s mom and stepdad to go to bed.

 

Gleeson is confused. They’ve never talked about Viola before. “What about her?” he quietly asks back, but he’s pretty sure he knows what’s coming next. This is a new thing with Bates lately.

 

Bates sighs dreamily. “She’s perfect, isn’t she? I sat next to her in English yesterday and she was so funny, and also her backpack is just the coolest, it’s blue with dolphins on it, have you noticed?”

 

Gleeson isn’t sure how to reply to that. Viola seems fine to him and yeah, he has noticed the dolphins on her backpack, he loves dolphins, but other than that, Gleeson doesn’t understand why Bates is suddenly so excited about her. “You said the same stuff about Julie two weeks ago. And about Amanda before that. I don’t get it.”

 

“I have a crush on her,” Bates explains and somehow seems incredibly proud of that.

 

Gleeson is still not sure about all this. “So you don’t have a crush on Julie anymore?” He asks, his doubt audible in his voice.

 

Bates frowns. “I don’t know,” he shrugs. “No, I guess.”

 

At least this weird conversation keeps them awake, but Gleeson has to admit, he doesn’t really like it. He doesn’t get this whole ‘crush’ thing, he’s never had a crush, and lately Bates has a new crush every other week and Gleeson doesn’t understand how any of that is supposed to work.

 

“Anyway,” Bates continues, “I like Viola now. Did you know that her favourite ice cream is strawberry? Just like mine! And she knows all the words to ‘Breaking Free’, isn’t that cool?”

 

To be honest, Gleeson feels a bit offended. “I know all the words to ‘Breaking Free’,” he replies, and it sounds a bit like he’s pouting, even though that isn’t his intention.

 

Bates seems to notice it though, and he suddenly gets very serious and asks: “Hey, Gee. What`s wrong?”

 

Gleeson can’t lie to Bates, he never could. Maybe he should get better at this whole acting thing, but right now he has no other choice than to tell the truth. “I don’t know,” he admits, “I just think that whole crush thing is weird. I don’t get where that’s coming from all of a sudden, that’s all. It’s not your fault or anything, I just… I don’t get it.”

 

Bates has become unusually quiet for him, and it takes him a while before he whispers, “So you’ve never had a crush before?”

 

There’s a long silence before Gleeson finally manages to admit, “No.” And because that one word alone seems so harsh, he quickly adds, “Don’t you think I would’ve told you? It’s just, I don’t know, don’t you think we’re still a bit too young for all that? And don’t even start with that ‘three months older than you’ stuff, that has nothing to do –”

 

“Three months and nine days,” Bates breathes, almost out of reflex, and Gleeson just rolls his eyes.

 

“Whatever,” he huffs, “it’s just… remember when I got Finn and we said it would be so much more awesome to live together and have a real dolphin than to marry a girl? Well, I still think that’s cooler.” _And what if you get a girlfriend and don’t have time for me anymore?_ , Gleeson thinks, but doesn’t say. _I can’t raise a dolphin on my own, that’s impossible!_

 

Bates’s eyes widen. “What, are you kidding me?! It still would be a million times cooler to have a dolphin with you than to marry someone!”

 

That’s not what Gleeson has expected. “Really?” He stares at Bates who looks like he has completely forgotten about the dolphin thing, but now that he remembers he acts like it’s the best idea in the whole universe. “Even if you could marry Viola instead?” Gleeson adds doubtfully.

 

“Dude,” Bates explains with the most serious expression on his face. “Viola is great and everything, but best friends and dolphins are forever!”

 

He says it with a conviction that takes all of Gleeson’s doubts away instantly. Finally Gleeson manages a smile. “We shouldn’t raise a dolphin though, probably,” he says, “I’ve read that it’s not good for them to be held in captivity. Maybe we should just raise a dog instead.”

 

Bates seems to think about that for a moment. “But can it be a really cool and cuddly dog?”

 

“Of course,” Gleeson laughs, and only then remembers that they still need to be quiet so they won’t wake Bates’s parents. More silently he adds, “Our dog will be the most awesome dog ever.”

 

***

 

Bates doesn’t mention Viola again. Instead they talk about what kind of dog they want, where they would live with that dog and what name the dog should have, and when they’re all out of ideas and finally fall silent again, they realize that the rest of the house seems quiet as well.

 

“I think they went to bed,” Bates whispers and now he looks all excited again. “Okay, so here’s the deal,” he explains. “Usually when I apologize, my mom doesn’t check on me later. But just in case she does, we need to watch the movie in a position that looks like we’re really sleeping, so in case we hear her coming, all we have to do is turn off the TV and close our eyes, okay?”

 

Gleeson looks impressed. “You really are a professional at this, aren’t you?”

 

Bates grins proudly. “My years of training finally pay off!”

 

***

 

They decide to skip the rest of the second movie so they can go directly to the third one – they both haven’t seen that one yet, so that’s more important.

 

At first Gleeson tries to lie on the guest mattress and watch the movie from there, because of the whole ‘we need to be able to pretend we’re sleeping very quickly’ thing; but it doesn’t work, he can’t really see the TV screen from there. So instead Bates tells him, “There’s space enough for both of us in my bed, come on. We can just pretend we accidentally fell asleep like that while we were talking or something.”

 

So they end up lying side by side on Bates’s bed, the volume of the movie only loud enough to hear everything, but as quiet as possible. Gleeson lies in front of Bates, because he’s smaller without his legs, and Gleeson can feel Bates’s breath on the back of his head.

 

It’s all very comfortable, and pretty amazing when Gleeson thinks about it. They’re still super spies on their secret mission, Bates has the remote in his hand, so he can turn off the TV any second they hear anything suspicious. But Gleeson doesn’t feel tense and nervous about it anymore – the bed is just too comfortable, they’re still surrounded by all these pillows, the movie is great so far and a thought crosses Gleeson’s mind:

 

As long as he has stuff like this, he doesn’t need crushes. This is amazing, this is great, Bates is his best friend, and that’s all that matters.

 

There’s a sudden clanging noise and Gleeson startles; he hasn’t realized that he has closed his eyes at some point, but he opens them to see where the noise has come from. The remote lies on the floor, next to the bed. It seems to have slid out of Bates’s hand and when Gleeson turns his head, he realizes that Bates has fallen asleep.

 

Gleeson smiles and thinks about picking up the remote and turning off the TV. He also thinks about crawling out of Bates’s bed to the guest mattress, but he does neither, his body just feels too heavy and tired for any of it. So instead he just stays where he is, mumbles “Good Night, Gee,” lets the music from the TV and the comfort of the moment wash over him like a wave and slowly falls asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't get mad at me for Bates having a lot of girl crushes, I promise I won't erase the demi and the pan dimensions of Bates's orientation, this will all make sense later, I swear!
> 
> Part 3 will be up soon, stay tuned!


End file.
